Thursday, October 11, 2012

I'm writing this in between screams, making dinner, and homework (not mine)...but I WILL write a blog post...if it's the last thing I do! September has come and gone...sort of like a haze, but I'll try to remember what happened, because this is my journal after all. It's funny, my sister-in-law (love ya Anne!) asked the other day, "Aren't you so relieved that school has started again?" Relief doesn't describe back to school to me...at all. Back to school does mean some much needed distance from a couple of my kids, but it also means...pick ups and drop offs, parent helping, soccer practice, homework (!)...all while managing the transitions at each thing (which continues to be tough for Rhett), getting dinner on the table, all while trying to do the things I love...the things that keep me a happy mom (sewing and knitting). Yes, I know...women have been doing it for hundreds of years, but man, it's not easy.

Mezmur's first day of school.

Mezmur is so happy to be back to school.

BOO-YA! Take that gender stereotypes.

Look at that face...man, I love her.

Oh, soccer. Rhett's team is a bit like Bad News Bears, but he has fun...that's all that counts. I can't say I love two soccer practices a week or "loosing" a whole Saturday to a game in the middle of the day, but I guess I better get used to it...I have two more kids. I see a lot of soccer practices in my future.

An action shot.

Mavis is now 18 months. She is changing very fast. She LOVES her sister and lovingly calls her "Nonie." It is possibly the cutest thing ever.

In anticipation for my coming surgery (read below) I've started to wean Mavis. A couple weeks ago I hit a wall. Mavis is still up around 5 times a night on average. Usually, she would fall right back to sleep, but a couple weeks ago she was staying up for up to an hour and a half nursing the whole time. I was drunk on lack of sleep. I was so tired...I was nauseous. Oh, and I wanted to kill everyone. Dan and I made a serious plan to night wean her, but then...(personal info coming up) I started my first period in 27 months. NO WONDER I WANTED TO KILL EVERYONE and no wonder I was so tired and no wonder Mavis was nursing so much...she probably wasn't getting what she wanted. Then...I got all weepy about weaning Mavis, so I bailed on the night weaning plan. It's a good thing Dan is so supportive. Instead of starting with the night weaning...I've decided to start with the daytime weaning. It has been very successful! Mavis used to want to nurse every time I sat down at the computer, or sat at the table, or sat on the couch, or sat on the floor to play with her, or every time she was bored...there was a lot of nursing going on. Now, I can sit at the computer without nursing Mavis!!! She still asks to nurse, but I say "not now" and sometimes I need to do some serious distracting, but it works every time. She nurses only at nap and bedtime (and all night long) and today...she didn't even nurse at nap time. Complete weaning will be easier than I thought...thankfully. It still makes me a little weepy, but all good things must come to an end.

Me? I'm fine. Thank God for supportive husbands, wine, coffee, sewing, and knitting (in that order) or I might just loose my mind. Oh, and if another old lady touches my stomach and asks if I'm pregnant...well, I don't know what I'll do, but the old lady better watch out.

I did have my much anticipated plastic surgeon appointment last month. He said that I have one of the worst cases he has seen in 22 years. I have a 4-5" by about 12" hole in my stomach...making me look about 6 months pregnant. A normal lady 6 months...not a me at 6 months. My ab muscles are basically hanging out on the side and my guts get pushed forward with no protection. It isn't a diastasis or a thinning of the abdominal wall...it is a large hole. The only way to repair it is through surgery...I wish I could fix it with exercise or Mayan massage. I'm thinking I'll have the surgery around the first of the year...by then Mavis should be weaned...maybe. I just can't wait to NOT LOOK PREGNANT! Hell, a maternity nurse in the elevator at the plastic surgeon office said, "You look so cute." Me: "Thanks?" Her: "I'm sure you are feeling VERY pregnant..." Nice.